Introductions | eePRO @ NAAEE
eePRO

The home of environmental education professional development

Introductions

Tue, 2018-10-09 07:16

Hello!

My name is Charissa Jones, though most call me Charzy, and I am one of the new moderators for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion eePro group. I’m excited to become more involved in the NAAEE and eePro communities! It would be great if we could introduce ourselves to foster learning from each other and sharing resources and ideas. Please take a moment to introduce yourself and reply to the questions below. And if you find yourself in Spokane this week for the conference don’t hesitate to say “Hi!” if you see me!

Tell us about yourself.

Where are you based?

What are you hoping to get out of this group?

What would be helpful from me (Darryl, and Tia) as a moderator(s)?

Tell us about your work.

What types of things would you like to see posted/shared in this group?

Are you going to the NAAEE conference? If so will you join the Friday, Oct 12th 1:00 PM eePro Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lunch & Learn (formerly the "Brown Bag" Lunch)?

Are you involved in any other eePro groups? If yes, which ones?

Is there anything else you feel like sharing/we should know about you?

peace, love, and apple slugs,

Charzy

Wed, 2018-10-10 13:43

Hi Charzy,

I'm really glad to join the group. I'm located in Seattle, WA, working to improve the climate in the UW College of the Environment and create more opportunities for underserved and underrepresented students to access higher education.
I will be more than happy to share some tools I have found that I use and/or facilitate webinars as needed.
Thanks for all your support!

Fri, 2018-10-12 10:40

HI Charzy,

My friends call me Danni and I work for Jenkinson's Aquarium in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ. I worked with them for 10 years before I moved to Florida. So in the summer I am in NJ and the rest of the year I work from home for them in southwest Florida.

Diversity and Inclusion is a new topic for us. We always felt we were since we have a variety of people from different backgrounds, ages, cultures, etc. working at the aquarium at different times. But we realized it's more than that and are looking for tools to help us be more aware and welcoming. One of the things I learned is that if people don't see people like themselves working at a facility, they don't think to apply for a job there or may not feel welcome.

I will not be at the conference, but look forward to your posts.

I am also on the advocacy and research groups. I am extremely interested in how others measure the impact of their programming.

I was the Curator of Conservation Education/Volunteer Manager at the aquarium before I moved. Now I am their Aquarium Consultant and I help facilitate the following programs at the aquarium: government affairs, animal welfare, education resources, signage, registrar, social media, and research.

I am also a member of AZA, NMEA, AND IAATE.

Thank you for your enthusiasm! Have a great conference. :)

Mon, 2018-10-15 11:47

Hi Isabel and Danni- thanks for joining our DEI group and expressing some of your areas of interest and your wealth of experiences. I too was not able to attend the annual NAAEE conference this year, but hope to touch base with Tia and Charzy about their conference experience real soon....such as sessions they attended, resources collected and resource people they were able to tap into. I would Love to include you both in the conversation, if you're interested (and anyone else reading this :)), in order to gauge interest in topics and resources to share online with our eePro group this year as we continue to move forward. Let me know if you're interested...and I'll set up the conference call...everyone is included!

Tue, 2018-10-16 08:26

Good Morning!

Thanks for starting this post! I am based in Northern NH and am the Program Manager for the Appalachian Mountain Club's A Mountain Classroom. We are a residential Environmental Education program serving a diverse population of students from across New England. We operate in NH's White Mountains and also in Maine, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. I would love to gain more knowledge, tools and resources from this group. Our two biggest current projects that pertain to DEI are:
1) How can we recruit and hire a more diverse team of educators who better represent the student population we serve?
2) How can we ensure that our curriculum is culturally relevant and responsible?
I would love to be involved in a conference call! Thanks for the invite :)
Rachel

In reply to Darryl Ramos-Young
Tue, 2018-10-16 13:21

Hi Daryl and all,

I would love to be part of a call about the conference. Please feel free to loop me in via email (director@eeanm.org) if that's easier.

As for me, I am the Director of the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico and the Chair Elect of the Affiliate Network Steering Committee for NAAEE. I look forward to learning from and with others in this group and am open to the many topics we will cover. I am particularly interested in mindset shifts (scarcity to abundance, transactional to relational, etc.) that lead to bigger changes to support equity and justice. Also, I am deep in thought and reflection about the importance of individual healing and transformation which can lead to authentic organizational and systemic change.

Thank you! Eileen

Tue, 2018-10-16 13:39

Hi, I work for the US Forest Service out of Durham, NH but work within several states across the Northeast US as the conservation education coordinator. I work mostly with teachers but also with groups that work with young people to build skills for green careers. I am not in the communities or schools of the people I work with but want to know how best to support our common efforts and be considerate of their sense of place/community/environment. I would love to know more about what was shared/learned at the conference. Thanks,
Susan

In reply to Darryl Ramos-Young
Thu, 2018-10-18 12:14

I'm also interested in joining in on the conference call!

I work in Montclair, CA (just east of LA county) at the Waterwise Community Center, a program of Chino Basin Water Conservation District, and most of my work and thinking around DEI has been thinking about my organization's programming, especially for our youth education. We've been going through the University of California's Agriculture & Natural Resources program's Cultural Competency series which is helping us think about how best to work with our primarily Hispanic/Latino community, and now I'm hoping to start applying those insights into our curriculum and teaching methods.

Excited to be more involved in these conversations!

Mon, 2018-10-22 19:13

Hello All!

I am a bit late to this party, but it has been wonderful reading a little about you all and why you chose to join this group!

My name is Tia and I am also a moderator for this group along with Charzy and Darryl. I am part of the NAAEE staff team based in Washington, DC. I'm really excited by the effects robust, inclusive, multi-generational environmental education programs can have on communities, especially communities of color, and I am excited to explore that with the eePRO community.

If you have any technical questions/issues or have an idea about how we can improve the eePRO platform, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Looking forward to the many engaging, challenging, and though-provoking conversations to come!

Sun, 2018-10-28 17:43

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this group and to EEPro but am enjoying this experience immensely and would like to introduce myself:

My name is Sakenya and I live in Flagstaff Arizona. I'm a doctoral student in Prescott College's Sustainability Education program. Broadly, my research focuses on religion and nature. Specifically, I look at marginalized and oppressed groups, power and liberation (or) powerlessness and systemic oppression in religion and how that informs environmental identity. I will be looking at Vietnamese persons during the Vietnam War, comparing the north and south, and how religions in these regions influenced how Vietnamese persons chose to protect/engage with the environment as an act of resistance or did not choose to do so (based on religious identity).

The other groups here on EEPro that were of interest to me included, "Connecting to Nature", "Advocacy, Policy & Civic Engagement", and "Research and Evaluation".

I'm interested in collaborating with others. I'm always searching for new course mentors (Prescott College facilitates and strongly encourages experiential learning). I'd also be interested in knowing about scholarships and graduate student funding for individuals who identify as being of color and/or LGTBQA in the environmental education arena.

Cheers,
Sakenya

Mon, 2018-10-29 18:03

Sakenya, I just want to say that your projects and area of research is absolutely fascinating!! A very relevant area of study to better understand the cross-sectionality of religious doctrine, colonialism and our relationship with nature. I wish you all the best on your journey to expand the wisdom on these topics!

Tue, 2018-10-30 22:15

Hi,
I am new to this. My name is KP and I live in Prescott, Arizona. I am currently working as an administrator at Prescott College and enrolled as a Ph.D student in Sustainability Education. I am interested in the discussions within this group due to my relationship with Adventure Education and Environmental Education at Prescott College. I directed an outdoor program for 10 years which introduced students to Prescott College through a 21-day orientation program backpacking through remote areas of Arizona. I am interested in engaging in conversations of how to best support the diversity of students access to higher education, environmental programming, and outdoor adventure.
KP

Thu, 2018-11-01 17:59

Hello all,
This message is primarily for Sakenya but open to all. Sakenya, I work as an evaluator at NAU and am working on a food-energy-water citizen science project through the Center for Science Teaching and Learning. Welcome also to the gal from Prescott College whose name I've forgotten in the five minutes it took me to remember my password and sign in :-) If anyone would like to know some resources for dipping your toes in the evaluation literature or grab a cup of coffee, please shoot me an email at elisabeth.roberts@nau.edu. The student membership fee for the American Evaluation Association is quite reasonable, and the Diversity group is phenomenal.

In reply to Susan Cox
Thu, 2018-11-08 11:39

Hi DEI group family members! Thanks for your discussion board comments and thoughts, Eileen, Rachel, Isabel and Danni. We've managed to schedule an online NAAEE conference debriefing with Charzy and Tia for Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 1:00pm PST. Check out the posted blog post to register...we hope you all can join in this fun and informal web chat!

Thu, 2018-11-08 15:30

Hi All, I am new to this group and new to eePro. I am really excited and inspired by readings posts and discussions in this group. I am looking forward to becoming more involved.

I am a Ph.D. student at Prescott College's Sustainability Education program. I am moving back to the Bay Area, Oakland to be exact after living in Prescott, AZ for a few years and teaching at the college. I have been working collaboratively with the indigenous Maasai community in southern Kenya for the past 14 years on community identified and driven research. Meaning the Maasai community identifies what research areas are of priority for them. I have been committed to research which supports the Maasai peoples' cultural survival, their economic and political empowerment. A big focus in the research is the survival of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which is carved right out of the middle of Maasiland. So the conservation of their land and the wildlife that they live closely with is of vital importance for their survival as well. Some of research interest areas are human-wildlife conflict/resolution, environmental and wildlife conservation, and the political economy of tourism.

In addition, I have been involved in anti-eviction movements and environmental Justice movements within the bay area and I am excited to reintegrate with these efforts. Especially in this rapidly changing political landscape. I am interested in engaging in conversations and action, that facilitate inclusivity within environmental education and environmental justice both within our communities here in the US and around the world. I believe we can be much more effective when we learn from each other's perspective and lived experiences and share our expertise.

Fri, 2018-11-09 15:06

Hi Everyone,
I am also new to this discussion, but excited to be a part of and learn more in this group. My name is Cecil Goodman and I teach in the adventure education program at Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona and am also a doctoral student in their Sustainability in Education. I am interested in learning and researching and teaching about equity and inclusion in adventure education. I also direct the outdoor and community-based Orientation Program at Prescott College and like KP am focused on how to best support students from systemically marginalized backgrounds in their Orientation program and outdoor educational experiences.

I am interested in conversations and resources focusing on equitable and inclusive learning practices in adventure and outdoor education - or in broader experiential education discussions. And, in discussing the theoretical foundations for these practices, especially in reference to Critical Race Theory, Critical Multiculturalism, and Queer and Gender Theory.

Excited to hear and learn from all of you.
Cecil

Tue, 2018-11-13 08:51

Hi all, my Name is Olivia Griset and I work with the Maine Environmental Education Association-the NAAEE affiliate in Maine. I am grateful for this group and learn so much from these conversations-thank you! I am passionate about equity and inclusion in our sector and it is always really powerful to meet others who are also very interested and committed to transforming our sector towards equity. I am unfortunately unable to join the call today to debrief the conference but I appreciate that the conversation is being held-thank you! I also help to organize a equity and inclusion subcommitee for NAAEE's Affiliate Network... if you are active with your state affiliate organization and want to join that group in thinking through the ways our state affiliate organizations can realign our work towards equity and inclusion please reach out to me--my email is ogriset@gmail.com. Thanks all!!!!

Tue, 2018-11-13 11:01

Hi everyone! My name is Anita Singh and I am an ee360 fellow. I am an educator based in Detroit, MI where I lead outdoor, farm-based, youth leadership, development and employment programs for young people. I also mentor new educators as well as facilitate DEI and gender trainings for community and outdoor organizations.

I'm hoping to connect with others in this group to see what we can learn together and also offer to NAAEE and it's partner organizations.

Resource sharing is always helpful for me so I would love to see more of that. I'd also love to collaborate on the DEI webinars being offered through this platform and learn more about the work that has already been done.

Are you going to the NAAEE conference? If so will you join the Friday, Oct 12th 1:00 PM eePro Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lunch & Learn (formerly the "Brown Bag" Lunch)? I was at the conference by was unaware of this gathering!

I look forward to connecting and collaborating and learning more!

Wed, 2018-11-14 11:56

Hey folks! I'm Erin or Aarin and I'm an educator based in Tacoma, WA. My pronouns are they/them/their. I work for a maritime history museum that provides a marine science education program for K-12 students, so my main areas of expertise are marine science and biology.

As far as my participation in this group, I'm looking for best practices and also looking to be a resource for other folks. I am a non-binary person and have resources and experiences to share in that regard. I'm also looking for a bit of a community. I work within a very homogeneous staff and it can get a little isolating at times. :)

In addition to my practice as a direct instructor, I'm also working towards becoming a Master's student with research focused on LGBTQ folks in environmental education. I don't know whether that will be within an EE degree or from another lens yet. Stay tuned!

I would love to see webinars and informal discussions posted here mainly. I'm new to EEPro so I'm not sure what to expect yet.

I was at the conference and I attended the brown bag, which is what made me decide to join this group! Big thanks, Charzy and Tia.

I'm part of a couple other EEPro groups but I am not involved yet.

I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone has to share! I was feeling rather down about EE until I joined this group and found like-minded people. Thank you all for your work and here's to new connections!

Tue, 2018-11-20 17:52

Hi Everyone!...Thanks so much for introducing yourselves, sharing your personal experiences, some of your hopes for this eePro group and, most importantly, simply taking the time to chat and build this online community!

To those of you that were able to join in on last Tuesday's Armchair web chat, it was great to meet you and wonderful hearing about your conference experiences along with Tia and Charzy, and the great DEI work that you're doing. For those who missed the opportunity, we look forward to having a similar opportunity before the new year just to share successes and challenges in our own organizational efforts...more to come soon.

For those unable to participate in our online session, we had a great conversation which resulted in identifying the following three strategies to support and nurture our eePro group's needs:

1. Seek membership feedback and compile a list of inclusion improvements for the upcoming 2019 NAAEE conference.

2. Identify technology/social platforms/venues to create safe spaces for dialogue, sharing experiences and offering support.

3. Continue to promote best DEI practices within the profession.

If anyone has the interest and time in helping us co-moderators determine and implement tasks to advance the above efforts, please let us know...we'd love the help!:)

I think one of the first tasks is to explore the ability to ensure our eePro group members have a safe environment to carry on these conversations on this web page. The current idea which arose from the web chat was to establish the eePro webpage as a safe space by providing membership access after clicking/agreeing to a disclosure statement or by allowing members to post anonymously. I will explore such capabilities with our tech staff, but let me know your thoughts. AND, does anyone have language for a disclosure statement that we could adapt if the technology allows such web page access pre-screening?